Quote from: planingkoala on April 08, 2025, 08:22:01 PM

@franky1: That was honestly the most unexpectedly useful breakdown I’ve read in a long time – thank you for laying it so clearly out. That idea of not starting from the beginning kind of hit me in the best way. I’ve definitely gotten stuck trying to write “the perfect first line” while the rest just floats shapeless in my brain. Starting with a sentence like “a boy is kidnapped and raised by space aliens” and building out from there? That flips everything for me.

yep, each word can then be expanded on until each word becomes paragraphs or chapters
you dont need to start at the start, begin by describing the 'aliens' or the 'kidnapped'.. basically whatever idea comes to mind

when it comes to memoirs, you can start with today and remember events that lead upto today. then put things in chronological order
some good memoirs actually do begin in their books with a brief description of how today turned out because.. [lead into childhood memory]

Quote from: planingkoala on April 08, 2025, 08:22:01 PM

Also, this whole concept of planting small details early that pay off later – I love that kind of structure as a reader, but I never thought I could engineer it as a writer. Do you think that kind of “backward foreshadowing” works just as well in nonfiction or memoir-style writing too? Or is that more a fiction trick?

it works in many genre's, if not to add depth to story but also a writing aid, if you add a detail mid memoir it can remind you of an earlier event that lead to the detail so then you can go nearer the start and fill in the trigger, which then adds more depth at the start, and .. back to the readers point of view can then aid the overall explanation/experience

Quote from: planingkoala on April 08, 2025, 08:22:01 PM

And re: your publishing advice – super smart. I hadn’t even considered the psychology angle of handing publishers something physical and “almost ready,” just to draw them in. Did you (or someone you know) actually try this approach with a print mockup? Curious how it played out in practice – especially whether it helped spark any real publisher engagement.

they got more call backs with critique and advice more so than plain paper, typewriter style
cant remember if their books ended up in shops, but they did tell me it got them to atleast get more calls

more advice about publishers
some small publishers are just scammers. they will demand you to hire their editors, hire their illustrators, hire some sales dude, ask you to front a small print run, pretend they approached the big stores but then something went wrong(after you paid because they pretended your book was going to go on best seller chart, if you just....pay)
so research publishers you pick, get reviews